White Masks
White masks is the name given to audience members as they are required to wear masks to distinguish them from the cast. It can also refer to the mask itself. The white masks mean that the audience can move around like ghosts and not be ‘seen’ by the performers. This changes if an audience member is taken for a one-on-one scene by an actor, who will remove their mask and engage with them. Punchdrunk have a rule of thumb whereby only characters who are ‘mad, dead or magic’ should be able to ‘see’ and interact with the audience. Role in The Drowned ManCategory:Objects The audience enters the show via a pitch black maze. Groups of about twenty-five people congregate in a dark lift lobby. They’re welcomed by a voice heard over the speakers – ‘Good evening. My name is Leeland Madison Stanford. Welcome to Temple Studios. Thank you for coming here to celebrate the completion of our latest production, ‘The Drowned Man’. Celebrations will begin in a few hours time, after we’ve finished shooting the last few scenes on the schedule. Until then, you are all welcome to drink in the bar on the ‘Fairground Set’ in Studio 3. You’re also free to take a look around the studios, where we have a number of other pictures currently in production. I must ask you to remain absolutely silent, and to wear your masks at all times. I would also warn you to take special care if you choose to stray beyond the confines of the studio complex, as the surrounding neighbourhood is unsafe after dark. Studio employees, wearing black masks, are posted throughout the building. Approach one if you need assistance. They will help you, but they cannot guide you. I urge each of you to steer your own course, allowing your destiny to be determined by your own choices alone, not by those of your companions. Tonight, your bearing shapes your fate.’ This last line is a quote from the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. The concertina door of a large industrial lift is pulled open and a studio executive appears. Glamorous, in a sparkling dress, she offers a more jolly introduction - ‘Well good evening ladies and gentlemen. Why don’t you step right on in? Oh we’re all so glad that you could be with us tonight. You all look so gorgeous. That’s it, squeeze right in to the back, there’s plenty of room. Good, keep it coming, that’s it. She winks at an audience member, ‘How are ya honey? Still off the wagon?’, and she ushers everyone into the lift. ‘Now before we start, I would just like to reiterate something that Mr Stanford said. Please remember to remain silent from now on, at all times. Oh, and if you do wish to enjoy your journey here, then say goodbye to your friends and go it alone. Good. So here we all are at Temple Pictures. It’s a world of smoke and mirrors. And we just love it here when a wrap party comes around, don’t we? It’s a real chance to see the stars. As the lift descends, she points to three headshots of actors on the wall, ‘Now you all know Dolores, right? Of course you do. She’s the greatest. A real beauty and she always gets her own way. Oh, Wendy on the other hand, well she just works too hard. And now she’s all wound up, just like a watch spring.’ This is a reference to the original play, when Marie complains to her neighbour about Woyzeck, ‘That man! So haunted by everything. Thinking’s wound his mind up like a watch spring.’ The executive continues, ‘But I guess you have to work hard to survive around here, don’t you?’ The third photo is of Marshall. ‘Now, look at me chatting away when all you want to do is get into the studios.’ She opens the door and a few people are bundled out, before she slams it shut behind them. The people who have been ejected find themselves alone in the Basement. The lift ascends and she points to three more headshots on the opposite wall. These are of the ‘Maintenance Crew’. ‘Do you know what, ladies and gentlemen? There is also a world outside the studios. And isn’t it funny how sometimes we can live in a world of parallels. I mean look at this guy, William. Now William is just like Wendy over there, struggling along. He came to this town full of hopes and dreams, but well they all soon turned to dust. And now he just cleans dust for a living.’ This line is reminiscent of the description of The Dust Witch in ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ – ‘A gypsy that was born in the dust, raised in the dust, and some day winds back in the dust.’ ‘Oh, but at least he’s in love,’ she adds, ‘Now that’s the only thing holding him together. I sure hope it stays that way. This is Mary. She’s his whole life and it'd be a shame if anything changes the course of true love.’ The third photograph is of Dwayne Shoop. ‘Anyway, perhaps you should all have a little look around town first. Oh and please be very careful out there.’ The lift stops and the rest of the audience alight on the First Floor. The executive delivers her parting shot, ‘Off you all go now, quickly.’ The audience members shuffle out of the lift. There are planks of wood pointing erratically upward from the soil and washing is hanging from lines as if abandoned. They wander out into an empty trailer park in a desert town.